AN ADDRESS 

IN connenoRATioN of the ordination 

AND SETTLEMENT OF 

REV. JOHN HANCOCK 



^ 





THE PARISH OF CAMBRIDGE FARMS 

NOW LEXINGTON, 

BY 

REV. CARLTON A. STAPLES, 

November 2, 1898. 



4c 



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tVN at)j )rji;ss 



Ki;\. (■AK'i,r(>N A. sr.\i'i,i;s, 

IN < ■<)MM|;M( )K'-\1'I<)N <)I- 

'rui<; < )Ki)i N A'i'ioN A X I ) ^i<;'i"ii>i-:.\i i*;.Nr <)i'' 

JOI I X HAX( ()( K, 

<)\i:h ( W.MiuuiH.i: 7^\\kms Parish 

IX Till-: 

FiHs^r Parish Cm h(ik 

( I X ITAIilAX ) 

l.i:X I NdTc )N. MASS. 
XoA". 2. l.sits. 



ARLIX(Vr().\ : 

c". s. 1'.\kki;r .v son. i-rintiiks. 

1900. 



^^^-^^T^ov, J(Ul- i) 



is <s_ 



fl b 



H isTORiCAL Address. 

This evening; we are to turn back tlie pai^es of history 
two huiuhed years. What are the conditions under which 
the peo|)le of tlie parish of ("anibridge Farms, now Lex- 
ington, are living? After a long struggle to retain it, Massa- 
chusetts has been deprived of iier colonial charter and made 
a Province of (ireat liritain. Her governtjr is no longer 
elected l)y the people, but ap]K)inted by royal authority. 
William III., of blessed memory to the Protestant heart, is 
king and legal meetings here are warned in his ma)est\"s name. 
The parish, then considerably larger than the present town 
of Lexington in territory, contains, as su|)posed, hardly more 
than three hundred inhabitants, or from thirty to fortv fami- 
lies. In 169S, Boston had a population of seven thousand, 
as stated by Cotton Mather — not twice as large as Lexing- 
ton to-day. This village possibly contains half a dozen dwell- 
ings. Originally its site was nearly all comprised in one large 
grant of 600 acres held by the Pelham family, and onJv re- 
cently divided and sold in three equal tracts. Not fifty per- 
sons probably are living within the bounds of what is now 
called •' Lexington Centre."' Of these are the families of 
Benj. Muzzey, on the Stetson place; John Munroe, near 
Belfry Hill; Joseph Lstabrook, on the Plumer place, and 
Jonathan Poulter, in the \icinity of the Baptist Church. 
These are all we can positively identifv as living within the 
limits of this village when John Hancock, then a \oung man 



4 msroRKAI, ADDRESS. 

of twenty-six, came, in 1697. to preach as a candidate to suc- 
ceed Rev. lienj. Kstabrook, recently deceased. The people 
to whom he was to minister are an humble, feeble folk, widely 
scattered, living for the most part on lonely farms, reached 
by roads that are mere cart ]:)aths cut through the woods. 
Large pine swamps extend on the west and on the north of 
what is now the village, and where crossed by the Concord 
road, the road is called "the Causey," or causeway — Iniilt 
u[)nn logs, ]irobably, over a sunken marsh, where to-day are 
fertile gardens and tields. 

Such, in brief, are some of the natural features of the place 
to which the young jireacher came, as the picture is made 
out from the public records. The meeting house stood at 
the south end of the coiumon, where the watering trough now 
is, erected a few years before — probably a frame building, 
but of what dimensions, or style of architecture, there is no 
knowledge. We are told that upper galleries were put in as 
the congregation increased. What is called a " Turriott " (tur- 
ret) stood near it where the bell was hung. Hard l)y were the 
stocks, a terror to Sabl)ath l^reakers and other evil doers, Init 
fortunately no record was ke]H of those put therein, nuich 
to the satisfaction of their descendants, 'bhe bell was a 
present from the mother church of Cambridge to this 
parisi), the youngest of her four daughters- -the churches 
in Chelmsford, Billerica and Newton being elder members 
of her family. Within the house were long benches, ar- 
ranged on o])]:)osite sides of the principal aisle, separating 
the men from the women, the boys sitting in the rear, 
where, as the record sa)s, " they might be inspected " l)y 
the tithing luen. set to watch over the ci^ngregation and 
l)revent an\- sleeping, laughing, oi- other improper conduct. 



III^IDKICAl. .\I)|>RKS.S. 5 

Tlie ])e()ple were seated accoiiliiii^" to their a<;e, property, 
or importance in the connnunitv, niaijislrates and old peo- 
ple havinfj seats nearest the j^ulpit. I'he seating of the 
meeting- house was a matter of great tlifticulty and deli- 
cacy, causing often much hard and Ijitler feeling, since 
the estimate of a jUMSon's importance made \n the Com- 
mittee often diflered materially from his own. Here it was 
voted that in seating they should have respect only to Real 
Kstate, and to one head of the famih-, and that all the 
people should bring in their ages before a gi\en date to 
the Selectmen, that the seating may be correctly done. 
Nothing is said of i)ews in the meeting-house, before the 
second house was erected in 17 13. wiien space was sold 
for them on the Hoor, each man Ijuilt iiis own pew and 
families were allowed to sit together. In reseating the 
meeting house, from time to time, it was voted that no man 
should be degraded, that is, be assigned to a lower place 
than he was occupying. ISul how strange and trivial lliis 
contention apj^ears over the jiosition of one's seat in the 
meeting where the people came to worship God. The} want- 
ed it to indicate their standing in wealth, authority and social 
importance ; back-woods farmers and their wives, living in 
a hard, jxior wav, strenuous to be so placed that all might 
know their relatixe position to their neighl)ors in age. in 
real estate and in social standing. There was uncjue.Nticn- 
ablv a great respect among the .\ew Kngland Puritans for 
these distinctions and they recognized them, even in the 
house of God. This respect for rank in society was car- 
ried into the college. In the early catalogues of Ilar\ard. 
students are arranged on that principle. Names were not 
printed alphal)etically, nor according to scholarshiji. l)ut to 



6 HISrOKlCAI, ADDRESS. 

the wealtli and social position of their parents. Sons of maa;- 
istrates and lariij^e landed proprietors, merchants and ministers 
came first on tlie hst, antl after tiiem the sons of farmers, 
mechanics and laborers. John Hancock could not have 
stood very high on such a catalogue, since he was the son 
of a Caml:)ridge shoe maker, Dea. Nathaniel Hancock, liv- 
ing in that part of Cambridge now known as Newton. 
When he came to preach here and looked down upon the 
congregation from the high pulpit, he could tell at a glance 
where the people stood iinancially and .socially in respect 
to each other, whether the l>owmans were richer than the 
Bridges, or the Munroes than the Reeds, or the Cutlers 
than the Wellingtons, or the Muzzeys than the t'iskes. 
Hut let us en(|uiie, — what is known of the preacher him- 
self? Nine years before coming here he had graduated 
from Harvard. The intervening time was spent in teach- 
ing school, preparing for the ministry and in preaching 
to the churches in {^roton and in .Metlford. He seems 
to have ministered here for nearly a year before his ordi- 
nation and settlement. At first there was some opposition 
to giving him a call between the church and the 
parish (voting as they did .separatel)), but finally they 
united in a nearly unanimous vote in his favor, and the 
service of ordination was appointed for Nov. 2nd, 1698. 
Allowing eleven days for the change from old st\ le dating 
to new, it makes it the 13th (jf No\'., just two hundred 
years ago this day. Five churches were represented by 
their pastors and delegates in the service, viz: the Old 
South of Hoston, the chiuch in ('aml)ridge, in Newtcm, 
in Concord and in Woburn. Mr. Hancock preached his 
own ordinaticjn sermon. Dr. Sanuicl Willard, of Boston, 



HlSrOklCAl, ADDRKSS. 7 

<jave him the charoe, wliicli it is to be hoped was not 
drawn out to the extent of his lectures on tiie Assembly's 
Shorter Catechism as ])ublished in his " body of Divinity," 
whicii contains two hundred and fifty lectures upon that 
lucid statemement of Christian doctrine. Rev. Joseph Ks- 
tabrook, of ('oncord, gave the Ri<^ht Hand of Fellowship, 
and "the elders assisted by the laying on of hands." 
Mr. Hancock's salary was fixed at £40. with an additional 
^^40. as a settlement, or ^ift, to l)e \):m\ during- that ant! 
the following year. A sum paid as a settlement was a 
custom of the New Kngland churches which unfortunately 
has long since been abandonetl. Doubtless it had the 
effect of prolon<xing the pastorates. Since the people there- 
by escaped paying frequent settlements, they bore more 
patiently with the minister's failings and let him remain un- 
til the Lord called him home. 'I'luis by retaining Mr. 
Hancock fifty-five years, the people saved the payment of 
another settlement for more than half a century. 

Scarcelv had Mr. Hancock been ordained before he 
began planning to make hinisell a permanent home among 
his people, lie was settled for lile v\ hen but 27, and 
had a reasonable ex])cc(alion of mam \ears of iiselulness 
and happiness to come. Accordingb; he bias a llit\' acre 
tract (if land of H.ni. Mu/./ev, a part <A' IVIham Manor, 
eNttnding from the Common on both sides oi what is now 
Hancock street for a considerable ditsaiue. and here he 
soon began the erection of a linmbli' dwelling, haiclly 
larger than a single room in some of the spa( ions houses 
of the town to-da\ . I'robabh' befoie the cage was lin- 
islied tin- b'ld to sing in it had been alieadv captured, 
and soon alter was brought from the parent nest to 



lllsroKlCAI. ADDRESS. 



adoin ;iihI ;^l()rit\ tlir xoim^' niiiiislcr"s home. A niin- 

iNtns (laii^htrr, ;i iniiiistci s '^landau^liti'i' and a iniiiistei's 
<^rfat-t4iand(laii!4liUT. how could it he othorwisc than that 
Kh/.ahcth Clark slmuhl he a minister's wite. fit to lie tlie 
mother ol" niinislers, of statesman and of merchant pimces, 
tlie grandmother and ;^reat <^ran(hnother of men and 
women (hstin'^uiNhed in theolo^x . m Hterature, in science, 
in philanthropv ; as teachers, as ph\sicians, and in all the 
indnstiic-s of life. The Town Clerk of Chelmsford sends 
this rccoid. " John Hancock, of North Camhrid;^^, and 
I'^Iizaheth Clark, ol' Clielmsf)id, were marrieil Dec. iith, 
i^ocj, 1)\ Kc\ . ddiomas Clark." lln- hiide's mother, Mar\', 
was the (lan'^hter ot" Re\ . lulward Ilnlklex. ol' Concord, 
who was till' son of Re\ . Peter l)ulkle\ . the fonnder 
and fitlu-i- of that town. Who will sa\ that l)lood does 
not tell, when we tiace from that hnmhle home of John 
and I];ii/al)eth Hancock a lon<4 line of men and women of 
hi^h moral, intellectual and religious charactei' who in so 
man\ wa\s rendei'ed t;rand sei\ ice to the stale, the church 
and the ualion? Ni-arU thirt\- nnnisters, leachei's, colle^^e 
pi'olessoi'^, doctors and la\\\ers ma\ he tiaced hack to 
that \'eneral)le house, or were in some way connected 
v\ith it, showing- that spacious and s|)lendid dwelling's 
are not retpiired to hrin^' foith nohle manhood and 
womanhooil and leave an iiiHuence tor ^ood that tells on 
ai^'es to come: hut a liie ot industrN, ot inte^ritx , of in- 
telliL;ence and of piet\ maintained in the hoin.-. ( )ut of 
siicli homes as thai lounded 1)\' |ohn and h^lizaheth 
Ilancock. in houses not hall as comftrlahle as iiian\- 
sta!iles and hai'us of lo-dax. out of conditions thus ci'amped 
and pool', came the men and women who, for the most 
])art, ha\i' heen loieumst in all dei)aitinents of human 



Mlsroi-IICAI. ADDRESS. (j 

activity Am] ]M()<;"icss ; not l)t'c;iusL' tlie lmu iioiiniciils wcie 
coarse and mean, hnt hccausc llic life there was conse- 
crated to (lutv, to truth, and to (jod; while all that 
wealth and learning, art and taste may do to reline and 
adorn the home counts lor little and otten miserahU tails 
to create and exeit anv elevatitiL^ iiiHuence upon society. 
The forming', ^uidint;- torce of moial and leli^ious lite is 
not in them. 

But what ot John Hancock's mini.str\- during- the fiit\- 
tive years ot its contimiance in the parish and town? 
What was he doin<i^ here lor this periotl ol more than 
lialf a centm\ ? Two services \yere held on Sunday 
throughout the \ear, with no vacation lor minister or pecj- 
ple, which means the preaching ot [more than 2ooo ser- 
mons. 'ldie\' weie <4eneiall\ written discour.ses, as I judge 
from an entiy in his Common Place hook where he saws, 
" preaching \\ ithout MSS. and good sense seldom go to- 
gethei.*' \or are we to think of these sermons as petty fif- 
teen minute productions " pronounced trippingU on the 
tongue," hut solid, thoughtful discourses of" an hour's 
length, upon the ])r()toundest themes of Puritan theology, 
with copious applications to the stale of the h.earers. In 
those (la\s the\ liked what the\ called " a painful [)reacher," 
and the\ onl\- complained when s sermons were too 

short, easii\- understood and left no ground for disputa- 
tion during the week. Parson Hancock was a diligent 
student, a man of" wide ant! \aried inforniation, a care- 
ful reader of Harvard College lihrarv. as his notes and 
comments alunulantU prove, ]ireser\ cd in his Connnon 
Place Hook. 'I'his is a huge mass of' extracts antl re- 
flections in his hand-writing, iieginning when a college 
student and extending to near the close of" his lit"e. They 



HIS roRKAI. AliDkK.SS. 



fonii ;m ocIjind xdIiiidl' of S^JO closcK written pa^cs, 
lilK'tl to tlir last line witli tew cxceplioiis. It tontains 
inroniiation upon a inultitiidc ot'MihJLVcs j^leaned tVoni the 
iTaili 1^- and c-xperience of a lon^- \]\'v. It is a rcniaikahle 
|)i (Kliiction, opening' the mind ot" the man and reveahn;^' his 
habits and character more tuMN than anxthin*;' besides, 
lleie are Science. Philosoph\ . Tlieolonx , Medicine, the 
phenomena ot" nature, and ol animal lite, a thonsanil 
piacticai n)atteis relating' to the I'arm, the household, the 
church and the state, inteispersed v\ ilh scraps ot lnstor\', 
hi(;>ia])h\ . the sayin^■s ot" L;reat men, stories and puui^ent 
epi^taurs. all carelulU and s\ stematicalh arranged untler 
jiioper headinjgs. ProhahU liom these readinj^s and re- 
flections, he drew the subjects and illustrations ol his 
sermons. It" so, he must ha\e been a rare preacher tor 
thosi' da\s. \()t one of the "^ di\ as dust" sort, as so 
maii\ weie, but a pieacher who had somethin^i.- interest- 
ing- to sa\ that had relation to human life aroimd him, — 
knowledge wholesome and good, — thought that quickened 
and enlaiged thought, — that made a man more ot a man 
tor knowing him. 

The tow II once \()ted that *•' no writing of a secular con- 
cernment should be put up at the meeting house tor the 
people to ri'ad on Suiula\ ." As we lead the old sermons 
of a hundred and lil'tv \ears ago, or lr\ to read them, 
we au' impressed with the idea that something like tliis 
must ha\i- stared the minister in the lace as he stood in 
the ])ulpil, — ■■Nothing that touches the pri'ssing, vital in- 
teiesls of this xsoild to-da\ __uuist be spoken here." Evi- 
(Uaitlv )olm Hancock stood in no feai' of such an 
admonition. Nor was he that kind of a preacher. He 
had the sap and \ igor of rial life. He was a think- 



llISrORUAI, ADORKSS. II 

ing, i:;ro\viii<; man as long as lie lived, and so awakened 
thought and life in the peojile. A deeply religious man, 
an earnest, faithful C'hristian, a tireless worker for the up- 
building of the churrli, a strict disciplinarian in guard, 
ing its morals and bringing oilenders to the bar of 
confession and repentence. \'et he was no bigot and held 
no ecclesiastical domination over the ])eople. The subject 
of his sermon at the ordination of his son I'lbenezer as 
his colleague, is "Ministers are the People's Helpers," 
and the first point is, ministers have no dominion over 
men's faith, but thev are heli)ers of their joy. •• Let us 
all be thankful." he says, "that we are delivered from a 
domineering and tyrannical clergy." And again, "the charity 
of some is, 'to damn all the world but themselves.'" 

" l)iblic;il criticism " did not originate in our day, as 
the Common Place book of John Hancock plainly shows. 
Some of the dithcult questions of interpretation he boldly 
grappled two hundred years ago. Take this discussion oj 
the Noachian Deluge. "How was it possible,'' he asks, "if 
the flood was universal, for water enough to have fallen 
in forty days to have covered the tops of the highest 
mountains ? " He then makes a mathematical calculation 
showing that it must have taken more than forty years, 
and then he asks, " What became of all that additional 
water? Ikit if it was local, confined to [udea, what use 
was there in building the ark to save Noah and his 
family?" However, like many other wise men, he leaves 
the problem luisolved. 

Some of the pithy sayings and proverbs recorded are 
very liright. Thus, he says, "War is a tire struck in 
the devil's tinder box." "Afflictions are the whetstone of 



12 HIsrORICAL ADDRESS. 

pra\er." " Some men will marry their ciiiidreii to swine 
for a i^olden trough." He discusses questions of casuistry 
with much ct)nimon sense. Tiuis, under the head of mar- 
riai:;e, he asks, " Is it lawful for an educated Protestant 
woman to marry a Roman ("athoiic. if he agrees not to 
disturb her religion ? It would not be sinful for her to 
marr\- a pagan, no more to marry a Catholic, esjjecially 
where better is not to be hatl." How to deal with a 
cross husband is illustrated by the example of a worthy 
Christian woman who had such an affliction to bear. 
When asked how it was that she managed to live peace- 
alily with him. she replied that when he came home very 
cross she was as pleasant and agreeable to him as pos- 
sible, a recipe that would no doubt be equally efficacious 
in similar cases to-day. These simple records gathered 
from the Common Place P)Ook show that lohn Hancock 
was not a theological or ecclesiastical fossil, but a man 
of real ffesh and blood, with a warm, beating heart, a 
man in close touch with humanity in its manifold expres- 
sion and experience; a man who was abreast of the 
knowledge and ]:)rogress of his time. Of his preaching, a 
few printed sermons are preserved in the Harvard library, 
notably one before Gov. Shute and the General Court, in 
1722, entitled "Rulers Are Benefactors of the People." 
The style is simple and direct, free from much ornament, 
or attempt at rhetorical display. The truth is plainly 
spoken. Magistrates and legislators are told how they 
may be a blessing to the people by an example of integ- 
rit)- and piety, by devotion to the public weal, by cherishing 
the schools, the college and the church ; with admirable 
(ounsel to the electors as well as to the elected, — much 



HISIORKAl, ADIiRKSS. I3 

of il as pertinent to rulers and voters of to-day as of 
those of a hundred and seventy years i o. It is no 
labored exposition of scripture texts and abstract doc- 
trines, but a forcible urj^ing home upon the hearers of 
their duties as rulers, citizens and Christians,- terse, pun- 
gent, practical preaching that they would be better for 
hearing and heeding. The sermon would come within the 
limit once declared l)y a good judge to be the proper 
one for a religious service. He said " Let it be an hour, 
with a leaning to mercy." But the sermon that appears 
most pleasing and impressive is that already alluded to 
at the ordination of his son, a young man of remarkable 
promise, cut off from his work with his father here in 
1739, after five years of great usefulnes.s. It has a pecu- 
liar interest and value, however, from the fact that there 
is an introduction, or " preface," addressed to his people, 
giving a glimpse of life in Lexington in 1735, a hundred 
and sixty years ago. First he speaks of the kindness 
shown to himself and the members of his family during 
the thirty-two years of his ministry, a respect and kindness 
which he has obser\'ed is sometimes wanting in other 
places. The inhabitants of this town, he says, are an 
industrious and thriving people. There are many serious, 
savory and spiritual Christians among them. There are 
no drinking clubs or companies that have their appointed 
times and places to meet and drink and game and spend 
their precious time, as I know of. If there be, I hope 
that such of you as are under the oath of (iod will dis- 
perse them. The rising generation have formed a society 
and hold a religious meeting on the evening after the 
Sabbath, and it is joyfully increasing. A pleasing picture 



14 HISrORICAI. ADDRESS. 

of the relations of pastor and people and of their i;;ener- 
ous treatment of him in settling his son as his assistant, 
with tlie additional salary assessed for his support. It is 
iloubtfiil if a better report could be made to-day of the 
moral conflition of Lexinii^ton, notwithstanding it has six 
ministers instead of one. But that shows how much more 
diflicult it is to instruct and influence the people of to- 
day than those of a century and a half ago ! 

The title of Bishop, generally applied to Mr. Hancock, 
indicates the position he held in the respect of the clergy 
and the laity as the counsellor and friend of all. It was 
no assumption of ecclesiastical or dogmatic authority on 
his part, but an iionor awarded him as a wise adviser 
and pacificator in all church difficulties, as the senior 
minister of the county for more than thirty years, and 
the moderator of church councils. So great was the con- 
hderice in his wisdom tliat it is said his parishioners 
seldom engagetl in any new enterprise without asking 
his advice. Town quarrels and tlisi)utes over boundary 
lines were settled peaceably by his decision as to what 
justice and equity required, so that for many years there 
were no appeals to the courts from the people of Lex- 
ington. What ])arson Hancock said ought to be clone, was 
done. His word was law as well as gospel. Members of 
the church were held to a strict account for all violations 
of chastity, of temperance, of honesty, of truthfulness, and 
olfenders were obliged to stand up before the congregation 
and make confession of their wrong doing and ask to be 
forgiven. Many such cases are recorded in the church 
book; some among the most wealthy and prominent of his 
jxirishioners. He saitl to the transgressor, you ha\e done 



HIS'IOKICAI, AliDkKSS. I :^ 

nil unjust, an impure, or an unkind thing, and you must 
repent of it, must coine before the people and say so, and 
promise to do right in time to come. It was done by high 
and low, rich and ])oor. Was it the power of fear, or the influ- 
ence of love, that held strong men and women under this 
stern rule ? 1 cannot say, but certain it is that he did it. But 
such publicity given to open and secret sins now, 1 fear would 
soon l)reak up the churches and disrupt society. 

lUit there is another phase to John Hancock's character 
which niust not be overlooked. He was a genial, compan- 
ionable, loveable man, fond of pleasantry and wit, a good 
story-teller, and not above enjoying or perpetrating a joke. 
Dr. Appleton, in his funeral sern\ons on the Sunday following 
Mr. Hancock's death, speaks of him as cheerful and face- 
tious ; so much so as sometimes to startle and shock the 
soberer l)rethren. fiut this endeared him all the more to his 
parishioners and made him a welcome guest in their homes ; 
a man in .sympathy with the humble people around him, 
entertained by their homely wit and wisdom, who made 
himself one with them in their sorrows and joys. He was 
given to hospitality, says Dr. Appleton, and his house was 
the resort of people of various characters. He adds that 
ministers of every age were fond of his company, which 
proves that in spite of their harsher theology and sterner 
manners, ministers of that day were much like ministers of 
this day, — fond of one who tells a good story and lightens 
up the .somber hues of life with cheerfulness and laughter. 
These facts make creditable some traditions of Mr. Han- 
cock related by Theodore Parker, in a letter of his found 
in Dr. Sprague's Annals of the American I'ulpit. He say.s 
that in his old age some people wished to have elders 



l6 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 

appointed in the church to assist him in his duties and 
two of the deacons waited upon him to |3ropose the matter. 
Hearini^ them through he said. I suppo.se you would be 
willini; to accept tlie office yourselves. We would l)e will- 
ing, was the reply. Hut do you know what elders are 
required to do? No, ]>ut we would be glad to learn. 
Well, they are to groom, saddle and bridle the minister's 
horse when he wishes to ride, bring it to the door and hold 
the stirrup for him to mount, and when he goes to other 
towns on ministerial duties to accompany him and pay the 
expenses. This was enough ; they departed and nothing 
more was said about appointing elders to assist their 
minister. And again, we have the story of his call upon the 
family of a wealthy parishioner when the wife asked him 
if he would partake of some refreshment, to which lie 
reatlily as.sented. Placing before him her largest and best 
cheese, with other things, she bade him help himself. " lUit 
madam," he asked, "where shall I cut this tine cheese.'"' 
'• Anywhere you please, sir," was the answer. '• Well, then, I 
will cut it at home," and accordingly lie carried it away 
with him. On one occasion, meeting a parishioner, he said, 
" Brown, I hear that you and your neighbor are quarreling 
over that boundary line. Now go and bring him out there 
with both your deeds and let us settle that matter at 
once." It was done, and looking the land over with the 
deeds before him, he decided where the line ought to run 
and fixed the bounds accordingly. Both submitted to his 
decision; they had inqjlicit confidence in his judgment and 
his impartial wisdom. Such facts and stories bring vividly 
before us John Hancock as he was, a man revered and 
loved by his people, broad-minded, kind-hearted, more readv 



HIS'IORICAI. ADDRtSS. I 7 

to serve than lo be served, the ])r()m()ter of peace in the 
connnunity, the helper of tlie people's joy. I cannot tliink 
of him as a stern, d()<;niatic, opinionated, unapproachable 
Puritan priest, lording it over the faith and the conscience 
of the peoj)le, but as a cheerful, genial, whole-souled 
Christian minister, striving to do the Master's will in the 
Masters spirit, a man of good learning and fair intellect- 
ual abilit}% but also of a good conscience and a tender 
heart. 

ih\X what of his theology, it may be asked ? No doubt 
it was like that of all New England ministers of that 
period. Calvinistic, but of the milder sort, with "a strong 
leaning towards mercy." In his sermons, so far as I have 
read them, there is no hard, dogmatic presentation of the 
terror.s of the law on the " Ipse dixit " of any ecclesias- 
tical authority, so much as an appeal to reason, to conscience 
to the spiritual nature and the law of duty and of love — to 
what most becomes man as God's child, as Christ's brother, 
and as the heir of immortal life. As a preacher he was 
like that famous Connecticut divine who, when asked by 
a young brother what was the secret of his great success, 
and of his own failure said, " In fishing for souls, 1 bait 
the hook very carefully and let it down gently before the 
fish, but you fish with a bare hook and throw it at them 
saying, 'bite, or be damned.'" John Hancock's was the gen- 
tle, winning way of love ; of good sense, and not of force and 
terror. Aiid so measured by the standard of elevating in- 
fluence and of a vigorous church life, his ministry was a 
true success. With him the preaching of dogma was in- 
cidental and subordinate to the preaching of worthy life 
and Christian character. Noble manhood and womanhood. 



1 8 HISrORICAL ADDRESS. 

helpful deeds, a faithful, loving spirit, were the vital mat- 
ters, rather than speculative doctrines and the rigid observ- 
ance of church forms. It is said that he showed no wan- 
ing of his intellectual and spiritual vigor in the closing 
years of his long ministry. Great sorrows overshadowed 
him. J lis youngest son, Kbenezer, from whose as.sociation 
in the pastorate he had expected support and comfort in 
his old age, was soon taken away. His oldest son, John, 
pastor of the church in Quincy, and father of the future 
(Governor John, soon followed. Thomas, the princely mer- 
chant of Boston, alone survived to cheer the declining years 
of his parents. He had enlarged the humble dwelling 
where their happy married life began and all their children 
were born, and he sent from his ware -houses whatever was 
needful for their comfort when the depreciated currency 
inade the salary very meagre. The farm was transferred to 
him, relieving them from anxiety and trouble, and a negro 
servant was bought and presented by the t(jwn to minister 
to their needs. Half a century passed away and still the 
venerable pastor bore up and .steered right onward, never 
losing a jot of heart and hope to the la.st. The people 
said he never preached better than on the Sunday, two 
days before his death, when his text was, " Wist ye not 
that I must be about my father's business ? " The end came 
December 5th, 1752. He died, no doubt, as he desired, with 
his harness on and his face to the foe, fighting for the 
right and the good. Immediately a town meeting was 
called to see what should be done to provide for " the 
funeral of our beloved pastor." The sum of £410 <K 1". 
was voted and every preparation made to give his body hon- 
orable burial. Mournins: rines and badiies were distrilnited 



IIIS'IOKICAL ADDRESS. I9 

and a brick <i;rav(j made for the vcneral)le form wliere 
it was laid, while a i^reat multitude i^athered around weep- 
my; for him whom they should behold on earth no more. 
In the old buryin<^ ground, a quiet and beautiful spot, 
where the dust of his congregation reposes, in a tomb 
with wife and son and many grandchildren, lies all that 
is mortal of Rev. John Hancock, — a little handful of dust, 
after one hundred and forty -six years. Jiut is that all which 
remains from a life of more tlian four score years; and 
a ministry here of more than half a century; from 
troubles and sorrows patiently borne, truth faithfully sought 
and boldly proclaimed, prayers for liglit and guidance from 
a struggling, trusting soul ? All no, that cannot be. He 
was ripened here for nobler service of (kxl and man in 
the life beyond. Hundreds, yea thousands, have been 
reached l)y intfnences for good that have gone out from 
that hum])le home of John and i^lizabeth Hancock, from 
that long ministry of faith and hope and love, from 
that life of high aims and good works " hid with Christ in 
Clod." Tliis is a better town, a nobler Connnonwealth, a 
more glorious nation for the family John Hancock founded 
here, and the souls that he instructed, guided and trained 
to act well their part and help l)uild up the kingdom of 
(lod in the world. And so it is fitting that on this 200th 
anniversary of his settlement over this chiu-ch and this 
town, his name should be recalled and honored here, that his 
work and his life mav l)e held in grateful rememl)rance. 



DEC 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 077 532 



